9/16/2009 @ 6:00PM

Ten Questions For Quality Electrodynamics

As told to Forbes by Hiroyuki Fujita, founder of Quality Electrodynamics

What is the hardest challenge your company has faced to date? Have you overcome it? If so, specifically how?

As QED has grown, the team has faced many logistical and technical hurdles, but each has been met with optimism and a clear assumption that these hurdles will be met. My philosophy is “one step at a time.” Everything is a sum of all the steps that have been taken and accumulated. There are no options for us to be defeated by any challenges once the “ship” has departed the shore. We have already passed a point of no return. Our team’s clear determination to make our business successful has led the company to be successful–”adversity” can only be defined as adversity if one identifies it as such.

Which company/entrepreneur do you model your business after and why?

My role model is Dr. Kazuo Inamori, founder of Kyocera Corp. and KDDI Corp. in Japan, and chairman of the board of Inamori Foundation, who has been sponsoring the Kyoto Prize, a prestigious international award given to those who make outstanding contributions to the progress of human society in the categories of Advanced Technology, Basic Science, and Arts and Philosophy, for 25 years.

Dr. Inamori started his fine ceramics business with a few of his friends and colleagues in 1959, and Kyocera is now a global leader in advanced fine ceramics technology to develop various products including semiconductor packages, electronic components and devices, and a wide range of industrial materials and components. KDDI has also become a technology leader in Japan’s telecommunications industry. Dr. Inamori’s personal philosophy embodies the idea of “pursuing what is right for humankind” and emphasizes “the future of humanity can be assured only through the balance of scientific progress and spiritual maturity.”

At QED, not only do we emphasize the importance of technical excellence, but we also place a high value on human integrity and team spirit. My team, originating from Japan, China, India, Europe and the United States, shares my belief in “doing the right thing as a human being.” As Dr. Inamori teaches, I firmly believe this is universal in the world!

What is the riskiest decision you have had to make thus far? What specifically did you learn?

As I described in the first question, life and business have a lot of uncertainties, challenges and risks. While recognizing those factors, I must make decisions every day for our business and have confidence in these decisions. The riskiest decision was that I made an up-front commitment to Toshiba Medical Systems Corp. that QED will be a completely functional medical device manufacturer, i.e., ISO-13485-certified, FDA-registered, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare-registered medical device manufacturer, in 18 months. This extremely aggressive timeline won me a critical business contract, and with my commitment, Toshiba in turn committed to its customers that the first QED product would be available in 18 months.

Failure to meet this commitment would have had significant negative repercussions on my personal finances, and, even more importantly, would have severely compromised business and personal relationships that I have established over a lifetime. In retrospect, this was a very risky decision, but at the time, I knew that as long as we have clear determination and mindset to achieve something, we can achieve anything.

How many hours a week do you work? What takes up the most time? What do you wish you had more time to do?

I work approximately 60 to 70 hours a week. I travel a lot for business and have frequent telephone conferences with our U.S., German and Japanese customers. What takes up the most time is the time spent for me to teach, shape, share and continuously reinforce our company culture and philosophy with our employees. People are the first priority, and they must be able to feel that they are critical parts of our larger mission of making a positive impact on society. For this, we need a very strong and consistent corporate culture as a good citizen of our society. I wish I had more private time to relax with my family, travel for leisure, play golf and read books!

What is the best part about being an entrepreneur? The worst?

I truly enjoy creating something that has a positive impact on our society from the ground up. In 2005, QED was an idea in my brain and a concept on my laptop. In 2009, the company occupies a 27,000 square foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, has one patent and seven U.S. FDA 510(k) cleared advanced products … with more on the way. I enjoy the entire process of being an entrepreneur. As the business grows, I can shape the corporate culture based upon my belief, which may not be the case if I were working at an established company. It is one of the most wonderful experiences of my life to dream of identifying and eliminating cells before a disease even begins to form. Along with my colleagues, I get to push the envelope of technological advancement. Quite frankly, the worst part about being an entrepreneur is that I do not vacation anymore!

Are you currently looking for funding? If so, how much and for what purposes, specifically?

We are looking for funding to develop a new business line at QED to diversify our company. Combining with QED’s own strong financial platform–which has been developed through strategic customer relationships, winning grants by governmental institutions, increasing sales and intelligent growth–we are seeking $10 million to penetrate the emerging health care industry in Asia with new products. QED has the option of self-funding its growth but will take on an equity partner if one or more are identified that can deliver unique strategic value.

Are you hiring and specifically for what areas?

Yes, we are constantly hiring professionals in the areas of research and development, engineering (both in mechanical and electrical engineering), manufacturing, procurement and inventory, and quality assurance and regulatory affairs. I am assembling a team that includes some of the world’s leading scientists, engineers and advanced manufacturing specialists. The scientific, engineering and innovation excellence established at QED enables its customers to access cutting-edge products at a far greater pace than they could achieve on their own.

What uncommonly good advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?

There is no magic. Keep doing your best every single day. Tomorrow only comes after today; thus one step at a time! As I stated previously, everything is a sum of all the steps that have been taken and accumulated. No matter what you do, do the right thing as a human being!

What is your ultimate goal (to change the world, to go public, to put your kids in business, etc.)?

My ultimate goal is to create a company that grows with the future generations of mankind, e.g., Toyota, Sony, Panasonic, Kyocera, GE and Microsoft, to name a few, are respected globally as companies with integrity and make a positive impact on our society. In fact, QED aspires to become the world’s leading medical device company with state-of-the-art business lines that can possibly identify diseases at earlier and earlier stages and with the finest level of detail, with the hope that someday we can identify and eliminate cells before a disease begins to form.

What specifically did you learn about your business from taking the America’s Most Promising Companies survey?

As I have described in this application, QED is a 100% financially independent company, meaning that there has been no external funding put in QED as it has grown. By going through the America’s Most Promising Company’s survey, I learned how potential investors analyze a company in which they may consider investing. I learned from the survey that my business is growing very strong and solid.